Justin Bieber turned down $5 million to perform at the RNC

Lisa Fogarty has written numerous articles for USA Today, The Stir, Opposing Views and other publications. She has covered everything from red carpet events to the discovery of toxic PCBs on school windows. She lives on Long Island, N.Y....

The folks responsible for booking entertainment for the RNC went as far as promising the Biebs that he would only have to perform for 45 minutes, that he could put on his concert at the Quicken Loans Arena near the convention center, not the actual stage where Trump would accept the nomination for president, and that he didn't have to endorse the businessman or his controversial policies.

The amount of money GOP donors were willing to fork out to get Bieber — an amount they were only too happy to pay out before he even arrived at the arena — would have been more than he ever received for one night of performing. Sources speaking to TMZ say the Canadian singer considered it, but at the end of the day, he said no.

The singer's manager, Scooter Braun, is reportedly a big-time Hillary Clinton supporter who threatened to quit on Bieber if he agreed to the gig. The many African-American musicians who make up Bieber's band and his management company, Creative Artists Agency, were totally against the idea as well, with the latter expressing skepticism at the notion that the performance wouldn't be political.

At first, Braun apparently suggested Bieber put "Black Lives Matter" banners around the arena, but GOP donors reportedly scratched that idea and said he could instead display "All Lives Matter" banners. They also warned that Bieber could not say anything bad about Trump during his performance. Braun sensed that Bieber was being used as a tool by the GOP and made it totally clear that he didn't support this career move.

The final nail was put in this coffin after an unusual celeb's name was dropped as a reason why Bieber should perform. The convention's promoters reportedly told Braun that basketball star LeBron James would be attending an event in Cleveland to welcome the GOP without actually pledging his support for Trump. That turned out to be a misunderstanding (um, or worse) because Justin's people learned from LeBron's people that the free agent wasn't even planning on being in Cleveland during the convention — and that Bieber would be smart to turn down the offer.

And so, ignoring all daydreams of earning more money in less than one hour than most people will see in three lifetimes, Bieber turned down the GOP's offer.